Plural Persuasion
by Slytherin Kunoichi
Summary: Considering she had literally dropped out of his life and disappeared intentionally without a trace over a month ago, she was the last person he expected to see waiting for him on his couch when he came home.


**Plural Persuasion**

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Considering she had literally dropped out of his life and disappeared _intentionally_ without a trace over a month ago, she was the last person he expected to see waiting for him on his couch when he came home to his penthouse in Metropolis.

He remained indifferent, as if her sudden appearance meant little to him, he removed his coat and hung it in the closet next to the door without looking at her. He didn't want to play the part of the cold jerk. But he was too angry with her to just run into her arms and forgive her.

Meanwhile, she didn't move from the couch, and she didn't make any attempt to say anything while he had his back to her.

When he couldn't waste anymore time focusing his attention on the care of his coat, he turned back around and walked into the center of the room, trying to keep his eyes as uninterested as he possibly could.

She looked different somehow—he couldn't quite place it. But it pissed him off regardless. She seemed so unfazed by her actions, by the pain she had left in her wake. She was sitting there in a yellow tank top, a long gray polyester wrap over it. He had never seen her look so—_different_. She didn't look like the normal Chloe, but she was still just as beautiful and even brighter than usual. Her expression was a serious, composed look on her face. He only saw that look when someone from their team was in danger or missing.

"I understand that you're upset with me," her eyes locked with his, pleaded with him to try and understand her as she understood him.

"Upset? Me?—No." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, the dark gray Armani suit becoming somewhat constricting at the sleeves. "Never," he added sarcastically. "Why would I be upset that my girlfriend abandoned me, and her friends—her _life_, without an explanation?"

"You have every right to be upset," she ignored his condescending attitude.

Oliver raised his eyebrow, "Do I? I mean, _you_ were the one who told me in the beginning, you weren't going to even try a relationship with me if I couldn't prove that I wouldn't just up, and run away at every little thing that happened or scared me." His brown eyes narrowed at her, "So why should I be upset that you played the hypocrite?"

She took a slow, deep breath. "I know what I did was wrong, but I panicked, and I kind of took things a little too far."

"Oh," he laughed bitterly. "You think? According to the U.S. government, Chloe Sullivan doesn't exist, she _never_ existed—_yeah_, I think that was a little over kill."

Her mouth opened, and she paused before speaking again, "Like I said, I panicked. And I already took care of all that—Chloe Sullivan exists again."

He pictured his eyes as hard as steel as he glared at her, "I had Bruce trying to trace every clue, every step you made, but you were calm enough to make sure there were none. Victor's been monitoring the computers almost every hour, of every day. If Chloe Sullivan was back, I would—" His phone went off, with the ringtone 'Stronger' by Kanye West filling the silence in the room that came with it. Oliver pulled his cell phone out from his pocket and only stared at the name on the screen for a moment before turning back to the blond woman before him, ignoring the phone call.

It was Victor, trying to contact him, to let him know she had finally showed up on the grid.

Once Victor realized he couldn't get a hold of Oliver though, he would contact Clark. And then it would be seconds before he arrived here.

Chloe exhaled slowly, "I had some decisions to make—and I needed to make them without you or Clark, or Lois. I had to do it on my own, with zero interference. I didn't go about it maturely, I know that, but I'm home now," she provided some insight to her mysterious departure, but not enough.

She hadn't changed; she was only willing to give what she thought was enough, while keeping the rest of herself guarded and away from him. He couldn't take that—while he gave himself completely, she only gave half. Oliver needed more—Thought he deserved more.

This is what Lois must have felt when they broke it off years ago—at that time he was the one who only gave one half. Karma decided to let him know how it feels.

"I can't do this with you right now," he admitted, trying to ignore the way he felt his chest swell with pain. "You're only going to keep running away, you're better at it than I am. I'll never know when you're fine, or getting ready to freak out and run."

Chloe shook her head, her forest green eyes welling with tears, "No, I promise, it'll never happen again! I know now—"

"You didn't trust me Chloe," he interrupted her. "What kind of relationship are we supposed to have without trust?"

"It wasn't you, that I didn't trust—I knew what you'd say Ollie. I didn't trust myself," her voiced cracked, and she choked back a sob as tears started to pour over her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't," he shook his head, trying to shake his vision clear that was starting to become blurry.

"Oliie, I'm not going to—"

"What? Leave?—You've already done that, the damage is done. What would keep you from running this time? What made you run to begin with?" His eyes pierced hers and he knew he wasn't going to get a direct answer, so he kept pushing. "Was it the memory of Jimmy? Did we move too fast for you? Or did it all just end for you because I'm not some dark haired guy with super strength and speed?" He looked away from her again as he snorted at her.

Her tears fell fast, and he heard her breath hitch at the sting of his words. "This was a mistake," she said suddenly. She stood from the couch and grabbed her purse, ready to run away again.

His eyes followed her retreating frame and he grabbed her elbow without hesitation, pulling her towards him, but with little force. She was not walking out on him. She was not getting off that easily.

He spent every day avoiding his company, and his employees that needed his guidance. He spent every night ignoring his alter ego and the city that needed him, all the while looking for her, pleading with God to give him a second chance with her.

She was not going to run away from him again, not unless she really didn't want to be with him.

His eyebrows drew back, and his almond eyes were caught in surprise at the small indication of a swollen abdomen pressed up against him. His eyes dropped to her stomach and they were wide in wonder, "Is that… Are you… ?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" She cried, completely exhausted and frustrated.

His hand slipped between them, as he sprawled his fingers and placed the palm of his hand to lay flat against the small bump in the middle of her body. He realized the reason now, why her clothes were a little baggy and a different style than her normal wear. And this also explained the strange glow he had noticed in her.

He swallowed before looking up at her, "Is it… ? Is the… ?" He was too scared to finish his question.

"I panicked. I knew you would be okay with it, that you would be thrilled. But I didn't want to just get married because I was pregnant with the Queen legacy. You deserved better than that—you deserved me to marry you one hundred percent because I love you and knew that no matter what, there was no one else."

Oliver licked his lips, trying to steady the increased beat that hammered against his ribcage, beneath his chest. If pride was a sin, he couldn't imagine why God hadn't struck him down in that moment.

Nothing compared to this moment for him. Not the first time his parents took him sailing, the first time he cast an arrow from his bow and hit the targets bull's-eye, the first time he tried on his Green Arrow costume. Not even the first time he made love to her. Nothing gave him more pride, than her carrying _their_ child.

She couldn't be more than a month, maybe six to eight weeks along. She was after all, still small, and he hadn't noticed at first, their sudden development. He had to be extra careful with her.

Her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed harder. "I wasn't going to make the same mistake I did with Jimmy, not when there was going to be someone else that could be affected by my choices. I wanted to make sure I would not fail you—and I'm sorry I hurt you in the process." Her face was red and streaked with tears.

And he knew this was not healthy for her, for _them_.

He pulled her into a gentle hug, "Calm down."

"And I knew," she hiccupped as she tried to stop crying on command, in his arms. "I knew if I stayed around, Clark would be able to see with his x-ray vision that I was pregnant. I wanted to be the first one to tell you about the baby." Her arms slipped under his and around his back as her fingers clung to him, at the back of his shoulder blades.

"On my terms, our terms, when I knew what to do—what I wanted. Not because while I was trying to figure it out or find the right words, Clark accidentally blurt things out without thinking." She shook with another hiccup.

He ran his fingers through the soft golden locks of her hair, trying to sooth her.

"And now you don't want me at all—"

He turned his face into her hair and placed a kiss to her head, "I didn't say I didn't want you."

She shook her head against his chest and wept harder, "You only want me because of the baby. A moment ago you were letting me walk out of your life and the second you—"

He leaned down and crushed his lips to hers, the first intimate contact he'd had with her in over three weeks. They were _long_ overdue.

He pulled back for a second, only to press his lips to hers again. "I was mad, I'm still mad and hurt." His hands ran up her arms and shoulders, to cradle her neck and face. "But I love you—you _know_ that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come back here, not together, at least." He sighed, a breath that shook his entire frame, "You would have made a different decision."

"I'm only twenty-seven, I panicked," she repeated again.

He pulled her into his frame till she was tucked safely under his chin, while he laughed lightly, "Only? That's the right age to start a family, don't you think?"

Her breathing had slowed and her crying had ceased to a minimum, "But the JL is just officially taking off, and then there's the possibility that some evil villain could find out your identity. Or the possibility someone would kidnap them for the Queen money?"

He stood still as he listened to her worries, already too aware they were his own.

"And lets not forget I always manage to get injured or worse—I'm like a magnet for danger," her tone was more sarcastic, than humorous.

Oliver pushed her gray wrap off and over her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. "So we'll invest in bulletproof vests and double the bodyguards," he gave her the famous "Queen grin" as he tried to reassure her while his hands balled themselves at the bottom of her yellow baby-doll tank.

Pulling it slowly over her head, he discarded the fabric to the floor with the previous one. "I'll never let anything happen to you—or our children," he promised as he placed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, followed by supple kiss to her collarbone, and then one to her neck. She leaned into his kisses all too eager to feel him again, after weeks without him—until his words registered in her head.

She pulled back to look up at him, "Children? As in… Plural?"

Oliver's fingers draped down the sides and curves of her body, stopping at the buttons of her jeans as they worked to undo them. "Unless there's seven Queen's already growing in that small abdomen of yours, and while I'm not doubting my ability to be that awesome all at once or anything—"

He knelt down on his knees in front of her, pulling her pants down with him, he kissed the inside of her thigh, feeling her shudder, her hips bucking while her hands tangled themselves in his golden hair, as he cocked a smirk up at her, "I'm just hoping to have all the fun possible while trying to get to that lucky number."

She laughed whole heartedly, "Ollie—you can't do anything about it right now, your damage is done and if it's not the number you were hoping for in here, then you're just going to have to wait for now."

"I know," his fingers slid under the elastic band of her underwear. "This is just me welcoming you home, and convincing you to _stay_."

She was already persuaded, but who was she to deny him his efforts?—Oliver Queen was a _very_ determined man.

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Dedicated to Stacy (Soapfan101, Stayceem, Stacymcgrew, Pensoul)

Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville, nor do I claim to own any other characters therefore owned by DC comics.


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